Panther was locking on the nudo lagunero as time ran out, and may have gotten it if the match went 10:15.

Thoughts:

a new move

There was little drama to the main event. The rudos took control only long enough to set up another wave of técnico offense in the first fall. The second fall didn’t even contain that much, with the almost-Sky Team just running thru the opposition with not much of a fight. The execution needed to be a little bit smoother or more spectacular for me, but it did seem to get money thrown in anyway. A normal two fall match with nothing to it is at least something that should be tried more often.

The fourth match would be worth watching just to see Audaz and Templario work together. They appear to be each other’s best opponents at this point, but have been split apart this year as CMLL focuses on Audaz/Virus instead. Audaz seems most comfortable trying his trickiest moves with Templario, and Templario showed more than his standard routine. Templario being added to the Revolucionarios is the tease right now, but they seemed to make less an attempt to work him in than Puma & Tiger had.

The lightning match was another draw, and another one where having the same side guys worked to the determinant. It would’ve been interesting to see The Panther attempt to be a rudo for a night, but instead we got to see a lot of moves. I generally liked the moves, but could see others – there was no particular flow or story to the moves, they just did as much as they could to get to the 9:50 mark and then had Panther put on his hold. The Panther’s modified 619 kick takes even more of a forced set up than a 619 but it’s The Panther actually trying a new move so I’m not totally down on it.

The CMLL announcement actually uses the graphic for ROH’s 06/16 show in Dallas, Texas. CMLL wrestlers have been on ROH’s Texas shows last couple years and probably will be again this year. ROH’s preview teases the idea of Ultimo Guerrero challenging for the ROH title against the winner of last night’s Matt Taven/Dalton Castle match. Only, that match didn’t happen last night (due to Castle injury). I’m not sure if the ROH web guy is read in on upcoming matches; maybe don’t take this as more than an idea. They do mention this is a TV taping, not something that’ll air live on their streaming service.

It’s strange to see CMLL DF wrestlers here. It may be because they’re there the day before: there’s a sponsored show on Saturday. It also may mean they’re moving the Hechicero/Esfinge match to a Sunday.

The sponsored show has been advertised for a while with a photo of Marco Corleone on it. Marco’s not on the card; he hasn’t been on any show during the injury angle on the March 23rd show. Marco’s still the CMLL heavyweight champion, so I’d assume he’ll eventually be back until they take away the title.

This is a strange one. For one, the local promoter uploaded a slightly different card before deleting it: the Wagner/Wagner title match built up since January was finally going to happen, and Escorpion & Texano were to defend their tag titles. No idea why the Wagners aren’t on the show now; it’s not like there’s a lot of other bookings to take on a Thursday night.

It’s not an appetizing card. Suicide/Lanzelot was good last time and should be again. Ashley/Faby could be good. There’s some hope of the main event. The rest is a demonstration of AAA’s lack of quality wrestlers in their core roster. Pagano/Murder Clown follows up on Pagano blaming Murder Clown for his injury at the end of 2017, but will also be a terrible match. Mascara & Maximo versus Histeria & Psicosis seems sure to be just enough to get by. The fourth is Parka match. The opener is a bad match with mismatched sides for no explained reason; we’ll probably have to wait three weeks for a reason why the match is happening, fit hey don’t just change it the day of the show.

This looks a like the AAA that’s existed all year, and especially before the Tijauna show. No MAD wrestlers, no surprise wrestlers like the other cards announced recently. It doesn’t fit.

Team Volador jumped Caristito from behind to start the main event early. UG was caught fouling Volador in the end

Audaz is stretchered out after taking a Virus Gori bomb on the finish, but it’s clear it’s nothing major on the replay.

Thoughts:

Casas dragged

A main event where Último Guerrero works técnico and ends up fouling Volador anyway is not really a great use of time. This was the second of two quick matches to close out a show, which ended quicker than usual despite having more falls than normal. Volador wrestling in a sideway baseball cap was amusing.

The semimain was a perfunctory match to make sure everyone got paid. They sped thru what they did, and maybe calling it OK is generous. Negro Casas’ antics with Diamante Azul were the highlight.

Malayo

The title match was Kobayashi’s best in Mexico, maybe by a good distance. She showed off a lot more varied offense than we had seen from her during this tour – I can’t recall the reverse DDT and the Shining Wizard coming up before. Kobayashi trying to cut down the bigger woman with anything she could gave it a different feel than Dalys’ title matches, and brought out her best. I liked this a lot more than last week’s lightning match.

Audaz shined in the first few moments of the tercera, with a complex evasion spot getting a strong reaction from the crowd. The rest of the match was solid but not as interesting. Lestat & Tiger Rojo have moments of being good but never a full match of it.